Conventional color matching operations are very labor intensive. A technician typically hand-weighs a coating formula by selecting and manually pouring each component of the formula into a container on a scale, and reducing the formula by selecting a reducer and manually pouring the reducer into the component container using a measuring stick. The technician then mixes and applies the coating composition onto a panel. Each panel is visually assessed by an experienced colorist who adjusts the formula manually. The process then reverts back to the technician to re-weigh, spray and adjust until the match is considered acceptable by the colorist. This process tends to be error prone and inefficient, and can result in low-quality color matches.